Page 3 of From the Ashes

“Wait,” I said, seeing the confusion cross his features. “I have a trick to stop them from burning.”

I got another odd look as I moved the cup of water I had off the table and sat it on the ground between us.

“Dip it in there,” I explained. “Just for a few seconds. Then it won’t catch on fire so easily.”

“I don’t want awetmarshmallow…”

“Just trust me.”

Nix lifted an eyebrow. But when I offered no further explanation, he just shook his head and did as I instructed. I followed right behind him and both marshmallows, dripping with water, wet over the fire.

A minute or two later, we pulled our pokers back, finding our marshmallows not only melted the whole way through, but golden brown and wonderfully crispy on the outside. Nix didn’t even wait for chocolate or crackers. He just popped the entire thing in his mouth. There was a groan of satisfaction followed by several hilarious hissing sounds as the hot marshmallow clung to the roof of his mouth. By the time he’d finally managed to swallow it, I was practically rolling on the ground in tears.

“Don’t laugh at me!” he barked, smiling from ear to ear.

“I’m sorry!” I had to wipe the tears from my eyes. “It was just so funny.”

Mimicking his sounds back to him, we both began to cackle anew, like Macbeth’s witches gathered around the cauldron. But instead of overthrowing a kingdom, we were just two young boys lost in our own little world that suddenly burned so much brighter than it had before.

Time flew by as we sat there making our s’mores and telling jokes to one another. Nix told me about his video games and his tv showswhile I told him about all the plants and animals I’d been learning about. Passion rolled off our tongues and into the night air, curling up into the sky with the smoke from the campfire. To my surprise, he didn’t cut me off or gaze into the distance while I spoke like other people did. His eyes stayed trained on me, and he took in every word. He even asked questions in all the right places.

When Mom finally came to take him home, I was beaming from ear to ear. We grumbled and pleaded for her to let us stay up later, but she wouldn’t have it. Not when she’d promised Nix home over a half hour before.

We waved to one another as Mom walked him down the street towards the little gray house on the corner. I was sad for the night to be over, but Nix had already made a promise to come back the next day. He had a spare bike I could use, and he wanted to know where the creek was. And I was more than glad to show him.

I couldn’t help smiling even after he went inside. For the very first time, I felt like I wasn’t alone in the world.

I’d actually made afriend.

CHAPTER 2

Charlie

The mountains were on fire.

The summer after sixth grade was the hottest I could ever remember. The moment we were out of school, it was ninety degrees every single day. There were no clouds in the sky and the sun scorched the land. Nobody had seen a drop of rain in over a month, and all the grass had turned brown. Even the trees were starting to look like they wouldn’t survive.

Wildfires weren’t terribly uncommon in the Pacific Northwest, and people had grown sort of used to them in previous years. My little town of Creekside, thankfully, was located in a small valley that was usually too damp to let the fire spread through. But this year the small creek running through that gave the town its name had dried up completely and all the land was just as brown as the rest of the state. The adults kept an eye on news reports and fire updates, but they didn’t stop Nix and I from spending our days outside. Our house didn’t have air conditioning, so being out in the shade and hoping for a breeze was our only chance of staying cool.

I raced out of my house as soon as I could that morning. The fires were still a long way out and while our parents were nervous about it, they knew it would be harder to keep us inside than to just let us go. Besides, we knew what to watch for. If the smoke looked like it was getting closer, it was time to go home.

I pulled my bike up to his fence, pushed the back gate open, and walked around the rear of the house. There I dropped my bike, picked up a woodchip from the landscaping, and threw it at Nix’s window on the second floor. It made a dull sort of thud before it dropped down and rolled into the gutter, probably trapped there forever. A moment later, a face popped up from below the sill and smiled. In less than a minute, Nix was standing on the back porch with a backpack slung over his shoulder and a sly grin on his face.

“Ready to go rock hunting?” Nix asked, his eyes lighting up.

I smiled in return, hopping back on my bike. “Hell yeah! Maybe we can find some obsidian or something!”

“Let’s go then!” He ran across the yard, sweeping up his bike and following behind me. “If you want the good stuff, you better keep up this time!”

Keeping up with Nix was the thing I loved to do most. In the past two years, I’d done nothing but follow in his shadow. He might not have wanted to live in rural Oregon, but he didn’t let that stop him from beingwild. And I loved it.

Adventures were abundant with Nix. If there was something to discover or explore, he would find it. But if there wastroubleto be found, why, he’d findthateven faster. Trouble was his magnetic north. No matter what he did, he was drawn to it, despite the consequences. In fact, I’d come to believe that he truly couldn’t help it. Even when he was trying to be on his best behavior and did everything to keep his nose clean, trouble came looking for him instead.

But I had no idea how much trouble we were going to get into that day when we set out on our bikes across town.

The creek was north of town. Well, it actually ranthroughtown, but on the western side where it wound through several private backyards. The people who owned the land on its banks weren’t the nicest people, and Mom had warned me to steer clear of them. Trespassing, as I was told, was technically against the law. Although I wasn’t really sure what was so wrong about it. Walking along the edge of the creek or through someone’s backyard didn’t hurt anyone. But so many people had gone through the effort to put up fences that it forced the wilds of rural Oregon into neat little squares of parched grass and shitty lawn furniture. Even at the young age of twelve, I already despised such things.

However, I found I cared less when I realized that the north side of the creek was so secluded that nobody would even know we were there. Not to mention, we had the entire place to ourselves every time we went. For some reason, the other kids and adults in town didn’t find it fascinating like we did. But then again, maybe they just didn’t realize how cool such a place could be.